We had been supposed to move into Mandy and Kirstie’s house today but with the weather still being so unsettled, they were unable to leave and will leave instead on Thursday. Kindly Candace and Malcolm step in to help us and for two days we stay with them in the apartment at CRC. Of course this means removing all the stuff that we had on Jeannius (thankfully only about a quarter of what there actually is) and installing it there, Mike and Malcolm dragging all the stuff down the steps while I follow with a couple of plastic bags.
By Wednesday, Tropical Storm Emily has passed us by, roughly 200 miles away and we all exhale a huge sigh of relief. Thankfully the job of refitting Jeannius ready for her charter now falls to the charter company.
We arrange to meet Kirstie so that she can show us the way to the house – the road, whilst not quite as terrifying as the one to Penny’s house, is steep but thankfully wide and with far fewer bends. Then we turn off onto a side road and as we go over the ridge separating the two, the road completely disappears as it is so steep. Knowing which way to angle the car is guesswork, but Mike guesses right and is suddenly once again behind Kirstie. This road is single track, untarmaced and full of ruts and runoffs. There are huge puddles of indeterminate depth that the wheels sink down into and I wait for water to pour into the car. It doesn’t, and we arrive intact.
We are given the guided tour and I spot with delight a washing machine and tumble dryer of mammoth American proportions. I have tons of washing to do and this will mean I no longer have to sit for hours on the hard, albeit, clean, chairs in the laundrette. I am in heaven.
In the evening I cook curries for the four of us – one a proper dhal and the other a cheat using Pataks. I doll myself up in a long halter neck dress to keep the dreaded mosquitoes off my lower legs more than anything else but the little bastards cheat and head further up my body making a meal of the top of my arms instead. By the end of the evening there are 8 bites on one arm and 10 on the other.
By 10 am Thursday the girls have left and Mike and I drag all our stuff back up the stairs and into the car for the first trip to the house. Having unpacked it we then head over to Penny’s for the first of the two trips to gather the rest of the stuff. For a while it looks like it will be three trips but with a lot of rearranging and brute force, we manage to stuff it all in and for the first time in three months, Penny and Peter have their house back to themselves. Now all we have to do it get it all back on the boat next week … shit!
With all the stuff piled into a large mezzanine room at the house, it doesn’t look as much as it did piled up at Penny’s – but it’s about ten times more than we can keep so a sort out will have to take place – and soon! But for tonight, we ignore it all, and admire the view from the huge balcony before settling ourselves down into their comfy chairs and making a start on watching movies from their collection of hundreds. I can feel some slobbing decadence coming on!
And where, exactly, did you keep the drum set on Jeannius? ~LOL~
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